As a Russian studies professor, her work went beyond just teaching students how to conjugate verbs it also taught students how to relate to people from other cultures.ĭi Bartolomeo said students found their way into her Russian Studies major in a variety of ways. In Lisa Di Bartolomeo’s courses, students learned to reject stereotypes, too. Now, Pancake is thinking about teaching Appalachian studies “without the limits or censorship of institutions.” Lisa Di Bartolomeo taught students to approach cultures with curiosity Lisa Di Bartolomeo, Russian Studies professor, is losing her job at WVU. “I cried because I didn’t know that anything I cared about was valuable to the rest of the world,” he said.īut while WVU’s program is over, the subject may live on in community courses. Professor Travis Stimeling, who created the minor, remembers attending a conference as a graduate student and seeing a display of books about musicians he personally knew. Students could also participate in the West Virginia Dialect Project, a research program in which they found that Appalachian dialects aren’t uniform, and “how difference is something to be recognized and celebrated,” according to Kirk Hazen, project director and professor of linguistics. This means the loss of opportunities to learn about subjects like Appalachian labor organizing, poetry, music and medicinal traditions. The minor is no longer accepting new admissions due to course cuts and faculty departures. Pancake’s position wasn’t cut she resigned due to what she called the “gutting” of the university.Īnd along with Pancake, the school will also lose the Appalachian studies minor, of which her courses were a part. She said WVU’s budget cuts are “another form of extraction taken from the people here in order to enrich some people.” “I have everyone do a project on why there’s hope for the natural world in West Virginia, which most of them really haven’t thought about before,” she said. Pancake said she didn’t ask students to romanticize the state, but instead brought attention to the realities of the state’s history, “warts and all.” And as her classes equipped students with a new understanding of the historic pattern of environmental degradation for industry profits, they became better able to envision a promising future for West Virginia instead of repeating the past. She also noticed that students from the region often felt ashamed of where they came from. When renowned Appalachian author Ann Pancake came to WVU as writer-in-residence in 2018, she said she saw that students were “basically socialized to leave” because they’d been told there were no opportunities here. “I said I would go back to West Virginia to help increase access to higher education in rural areas,” Perdue remembered.įill out the survey Ann Pancake inspired students to envision justice in Appalachia Ann Pancake. Perdue, who grew up in Cross Lanes, went to WVU for bachelor’s and master’s degrees, but earned her doctorate in agricultural leadership, education and communications from Texas A&M University.Īdvisors there asked her what she’d do if she had unlimited resources. Photo courtesy Emily Perdue.Ī program that encourages rural Boone County students to consider college education may end because Emily Perdue, professor of agriculture and extension education, is losing her position. Kylie Dowell holds one of the horses for a demonstration of its skeletal system. Emily Perdue broke down barriers to higher education Professors in Animal and Nutritional Science taught an anatomy lesson as part of a workforce preparation project. They’ve helped young people access higher education, understand cultural differences and connections, find professional success and pursue their passions.Īdministrators say the cuts will allow the university to be forward-thinking by focusing on careers in fields like medicine, forensics and cybersecurity.īut the university’s stated mission remains to provide “access and opportunity” and lead “transformation in West Virginia and the world through local, state and global engagement.” And the faculty members leaving through retirements, resignations and lay-offs have directly contributed to that mission. They’re facing a $45 million budget shortfall, and have decided to lay off nearly 150 faculty and staff members to save money.īut behind the numbers, the losses include those who have prepared students for the future in many incalculable ways. West Virginia University administrators have spent a lot of the past few months talking about numbers.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |